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    • Produced in partnership: Smart Cities

    Lessons for building an eco-city from scratch

    The experts behind Africa's first eco-city in Zenata, Morocco, share their advice on what to consider when building a sustainable urban development project. Job creation, environmental impact and design should guide the project from the beginning.

    By Christin Roby // 22 March 2017

    CASABLANCA, Morocco — Building an eco-city from scratch is a balancing act. Developers at Morocco’s Zenata kept environmental impact and job creation in mind as they set about to design their urban strategy. Their goal was a sustainable urban development project that optimized natural resource use. At each step, they evaluated their performance according to key social, environmental, and economic performance indicators.

    Devex saw the results first hand during a visit to Zenata Eco-City last month. A mixed sewage collection system, for example, redirects rainwater toward retention ponds. The design also reserved 30 percent of the land for green spaces to promote biodiversity. With the eventual opening of an integrated health care center, university campus and shopping center, Zenata expects to offer 100,000 jobs to its estimated 300,000 residents, according to Mohamed Naciri, business development director at Zenata Development Company — the group responsible for the city’s design.

    Zenata’s phase one broke ground in 2012, and to date, all major roads have been built, an IKEA retail store has opened at the retail center, and the foundation for a residential area has been laid in the 2,000 acre area. Developers say the city’s neighborhood, Quartier de la Ferme, should be welcoming families by 2020.

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    Read more about what it takes to build a smart city

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    ► 4 smart innovations to make cities more resilient

    ► Q&A: How can urbanization pay for itself? 3 questions for UN-Habitat

    • Urban Development
    • Environment & Natural Resources
    • Casablanca, Morocco
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    About the author

    • Christin Roby

      Christin Roby@robyreports

      Christin Roby worked as the West Africa Correspondent for Devex, covering global development trends, health, technology, and policy. Before relocating to West Africa, Christin spent several years working in local newsrooms and earned her master of science in videography and global affairs reporting from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Her informed insight into the region stems from her diverse coverage of more than a dozen African nations.

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